All Blacks play the Wallabies 2nite, October 20th in Brisbane for the Bledisloe Cup. I've sent 2 emails & called DirecTV twice this morning, soke 2 3 different IT's, only 2 B told that DirecTV has no way to contact Sky, Fox Sports, etc 2 find out when there is a rugby game!!! C'mon, DirecTV, why & HOW did U set up Channel 490-1 as a designated Rugby channel?? DirecTV HAD 2 have live contact with the Sports broadcasters..

I have been given the total runaround by your so called Customer Service!! Sometimes I am transferred to an IT who knows what he is doing, can find Ch: 490-1 without my help and usually fix the problem. NOT today!! The IT in Idaho coudln't/wouldn't transfer me to a higer up!! She informed me that the International tour was over and there is no more rugby. Last year DirecTV gave me a website www.espnscrum.com to check the rugby schedule, yet the IT sknew nothing about that website & would not put me thru' 2 a sports IT who would know!!

As of November 8 the upcoming northern tour rugby games were all on the channel guide (490) and I had them set to record. Then today, inexplicably, they are all gone. What's going on? Direct TV suggets I should call and talk to Techncal support. I have better things to do with an hour of my life than get frustrated getting absolutely nowhere.

I've sent emails & called DirecTV every 2 days for 3 weeks & was so excited 2 find the International Northern Tour on Channel 490-1 yesterday. Set the DVR 2 record BUT 2day checked 490-1 and there are no games listed. My "to do" list for 490-1 is gone!! What's going on, DirecTV????? I called DirecTV, got thru' 2 Teresa in Oklahoma, she cannot find out what happened but she does have record of my emails & calls with the notation" Escalated to Sports Technician." Unfortunately, she cannot find a "sports tecnician" or where my emails, etc were "escalated" to!!!

This is absolutely pathetic!! DirecTV has a designated Rugby channel but no rugby!! CAn't YOU get this channel corrected & up & running smoothly for the next 10 years or more!! Rugby will B around 4ever!!!

I'll add my 2 cents here. I agree with the poster above that it seems pointless to have a dedicated rugby channel with no rugby. I switched from Comcast to DirecTV specifically for access to this rugby channel, but I am thinking of breaking my contract and going back to Comcast. It just isn't worth all of this wasting of time.

DirecTV, please at least acknowledge what is going on here. I understand that it can get close to game day before broadcast contracts are signed off sometimes, but to advertise games on the guide and them remove them 24 hours before kick off seems like you are jerking your customers around, especially when you make no statements about what is going on and when customers call your customer service they have no idea either.

Simple communication and consideration of your customers would go a long, long way.

I just got off the phone with another directv tech who told me that the games are not being broadcast until Wednesday, November 14. I asked him if they were going to show them as a re-broadcast instead of live (obviously if they are going to be shown on Wednesday) to make sure that it wasn't just a data entry error. He said there was no way for him to tell that, and then suggested that I must be mistaken about the times. Grrrrr. I told him that the tests are definitely being played today and asked if I could speak with someone in programming to determine how and why they had made the shift and he told me that it "doesn't matter why" and that there was no one for me to speak with. After insisting that there must be someone who could explain it, he told me, "customers aren't allowed to talk to those people." Excuse me? I find myself being drawn inexorably back to Comcast...

This has happened before as well. Even though the games were no longer listed they still ended up showing them. My fingers are crossed right now.

I noticed that there is still a blocked out period at the times the games are being played, with "To Be Announced" listed. I too am hoping that it is just a case of the actual program description going missing and the games will be broadcast. I have set manual records in all instances just in case ... (and I'll be checking live at 12:30pm today.

This is a load of bs, if you're not going to air the games despite advertising them in your EPG as recently as 24 hours ago, just give up your exclusive rights so someone who will air them can pickup the online rights!

BTW, the USA games are exclusive to Universal Sports, but in NBC Universal's usual fashion, they're NOT live. I never watch Universal Sports's coverage, but knowing them they probably edit the games so they can insert multiple commercial breaks each time play stops.